Sailor Moon: The Next Generation
by Terragaiajorda
Summary: The last chapter... It's kinda short, but it's good. Goodbyes, a slight twist, and an opening (or something) to the sequel.
1. Author's Note and Bio page

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or the original characters. The rest of the characters are my own creations.  
  
Others Characters you should know (that I don't own):  
  
Peruru - Kid from Sailor Moon Super S movie (looks like Helios)  
  
Sammy - Serena's brother (Future Tuxedo Mask)  
  
Diana - Rini's gray cat  
  
Molly and Melvin - Serena's friends (They were in every season but the last. They might be in this...)  
  
Chibi-Chibi - Little girl from the Stars season (They looks like Rini kiinda. She might be in this...)  
  
Bios: These are the other characters (the ones I own). Take note that if the hair color section doesn't add the length of their hair, it's the same as the original Scout's.  
  
Ex: Name: Alex Hino  
  
Hair Color: Purple (This means her is the same exact length as Raye's)  
  
Name: Susan Meiou  
  
Hair Color: Dark Green (Shoulder-Length) (Anything in ( )'s after the hair color tells you it's not the same length of the original Scout)  
  
Name: Samantha Mizuno (Sam)  
  
Hair Color: Blue  
  
Eye Color: Blue  
  
Birthday: March 28  
  
(Future Mercury)  
  
Name: Alex Hino  
  
Hair Color: Purple  
  
Eye Color: Purple  
  
Birthday: October 13  
  
(Future Mars)  
  
Name: Tori Kino  
  
Hair Color: Brown  
  
Eye Color: Green  
  
Birthday: October 14  
  
(Future Jupiter)  
  
Name: Jessica Aino  
  
Hair Color: Blonde  
  
Eye Color: Blue  
  
Birthday: December 1  
  
(Future Venus)  
  
Name: Rebecca Kaiou  
  
Hair Color: Blue-Green  
  
Eye Color: Marine Blue  
  
Birthday: September 21  
  
(Future Neptune)  
  
Name: Katherine Aleixia Tenou (Kat, Karen)  
  
Hair Color: Light Brown (Below ears)  
  
Eye Color: Blue-Green  
  
Birthday: December 19  
  
(Future Uranus)  
  
Name; Susan Meiou  
  
Hair Color: Dark Green (Shoulder-Length)  
  
Eye Color: Garnet  
  
Birthday: April 3  
  
(Future Pluto)  
  
Apollo - Kat's gray cat  
  
Note: All of the children are 12 or 13. Except Sammy and Hotaru who are 14. 


	2. Chapter One

Sailor Moon: The Next Generation  
  
The darkness seemed endless as she curiously walked around in it. Something wasn't right about this place, she just knew it. She had this feeling, mildly disturbing and possibly warning her to leave. If she only knew how to get out, she would. Continuing along, she bumped into what might have been a statue and she fell back onto the ground. She shook her head, getting up to examine the hard object. It was what she had guessed it to be, a stone figure and it looked like... Sailor Moon. She gasped. noticing some more sculptures than resembled some of the other Scouts. She glanced in every direction, seeing nothing more than ruins and statues.  
  
A strong gust of wind blew past her, causing the girl to turn around. Some kind of amazing power was heading her way, amazing and dark. It had come into her view quickly, taking out the buildings and petrified citizens. A tornado of darkness, that's what she believed it to be as she watched it devour what was left of her world. She tried to find a safe place to hide as it got closer to her. It became clear to her soon that there was nowhere to go. It was some mere seconds away when she closed her eyes and hoped for a miracle to dawn.  
  
Karen awoke with a start, trying to calm herself and catch her breath. It wasn't one of her ordinary nightmares, this one felt real, a little too real. Finally pacified, she got out of her bed and headed for her door. It was the middle of the night, so she expected to find no one else awake as she went to retrieve a glass of water. Her hands grasped the cold, brass doorknob and turned it slowly. She let it open a bit and peeked out just in case someone was up. The hallway was empty and she hurried through it and down the stairs. She was about to enter the kitchen when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.  
  
She made her way into the living room now, making sure she was just seeing things. The television caught her focus as the screen showed a cartoon channel on mute. The girl stepped over to the couch and picked up the remote, shutting the noise box off. Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of the TV and Karen fell back onto the couch. She sat there silently, thinking it wouldn't notice her if she was still and made no sound. Her assumption was wrong, but the mysterious figure did not move closer. It was whispering incoherent phases to Karen, as if chanting or trying to warn her.  
  
Gaining the courage to speak, Karen opened her mouth to ask what the being was trying to tell her. In the same moment, one of the doors leading into the living room slammed open. Amara, Michelle, and Trista had come in, all three taking note to Karen on the sofa. Karen gazed over to them and back to where the shadow was. It was gone and somehow Karen wasn't that surprised at that fact. She was just upset that she'd have to think of a good excuse. They obviously weren't going to believe shadows or ghosts were lurking about, especially not Michelle.  
  
"Karen, what are you doing up so late?" Michelle was first to question, like always.  
  
"I had a nightmare, so I came down to get some water." It was the true, yet it didn't answer one detail.  
  
"Then why are you in here?"  
  
"The TV was on... not sure why, so I turned it off." Karen got to her feet and gave them a suspicious look. "What are you three doing up so late?"  
  
"Amara was just having a bad dream and thought the Earth was getting attacked again." Trista answered in a mocking tone as Amara glared at her. "I guess we all no longer have any good reasons to be wandering around..."  
  
Amara and Michelle nodded as Karen smiled, Trista was always there to help her out.  


  
-.-

Karen was back in her room and comfortable under the blankets. Trista was seated on the edge on the bed after volunteering to make sure Karen would get to sleep. Karen always felt safe around Trista, even more so then when she was around Amara. Her theory was that Amara didn't like arguing with Michelle and Trista... she just didn't care. The Time Guardian did try to get Karen to see Michelle wasn't out to ruin her life. The attempt wasn't going so well, Trista refused to give up though. Karen let out an uneasy sigh, deciding to tell her elder about the dream.  
  
"Trista... my dream, it felt so real, but I don't understand what it was trying to tell me. Everyone had been turned into stone statues and this wave of darkness came and started destroying them and the buildings. It could just be a dream... I just don't know. I feel like it's more than that."  
  
Trista had been paying close attention to the explanation and responded with the uncertain truth. "Don't worry, it was probably just a dream. Things wouldn't be so calm if an enemy was near, they never have been."  
  
"I know, I've heard the stories... Well, maybe now I can get some sleep, good night." She grabbed a stuffed animal that looked like Luna and hugged it as she closed her eyes.  
  
Trista whispered good night and kissed the young girl on the forehead. She left the room, closing the door on her way out and retreated back to the kitchen where Amara and Michelle were.  
  
"I know we beat Tomoe and all of his flunkies... I just believe it's possible they can come back, that's all." Amara's voice was heard as soon as Trista was downstairs.  
  
"Amara, you know what would happen if they did return..." Michelle had replied, not able to finish her sentence.  
  
"I know, it's not everyday you die and come back to life."  
  
Trista joined the two, a somewhat displeased expression showing. "She saw the vision as well." Amara and Michelle just stared, as if Trista had made some sort of sick joke. "They might have to face an enemy sooner than expected."  


-.-  


Karen quietly ate her breakfast, randomly poking at the food on her plate every once in a while. The dream was still bothering her, not only the dream... the shadow she saw the last night had also bothered her. Trista watched the troubled girl as she drank her tea, wondering if she should say anything. Karen stared at Trista for a moment, as if waiting for her to do something. She shook her head and continued eating her food and soon finishing it. The young wind goddess picked up her plate and headed into the kitchen. She came back with a glass of orange juice and returned to her seat. Her gaze came upon Trista again and they had a stare-down until the Keeper of Time quietly cleared her throat and looked away.  
  
Karen left the table again and headed into the living room. Amara and Michelle sat on the couch watching the news or something. Michelle was clinging onto Amara's arm, clearly paying more attention to the tomboy. Karen scoffed under her breath, she didn't enjoy the idea of Michelle swooning over Amara. It was nothing against their relationship, Karen had just come to believe Michelle was evil. Amara whispered something to Michelle and left the room after the two shared a short kiss.  
  
"Good morning, Karen." The voice was so sweet, yet the owner... so evil. Karen had thought of running out of the room, but it was too late... they had made eye contact.  
  
"Morning... I'm gonna go..." She let out the first thought that came to mind, or tried to.  
  
"Is that another excuse to avoid staying in the same room with me?"  
  
"Most of the time, our conversations turn into debates and it's too early for that."  
  
"Then we won't let that happen." Michelle was giving her one of those innocent looks.  
  
"I love that you're trying to build a friendship between us, but I have better things to do right now." With that, she was gone up the stairs, not caring about how rude the exit was. She didn't have to be nice to Michelle just because she was dating her sister and was living with them.  


-.-  


Karen briskly strolled through the park, a little angry at Michelle for trying to be nicer to her. "Amara might have fallen for the act..... she won't get me as easily..." Her fury had distracted her from the fact that she was here with Michelle's sister. After a few more moments of muttering, she finally realized she had left Rebecca behind. She halted and wondered how long ago she had lost her.  
  
Soon enough Rebecca had caught up with her friend, almost falling on her while recovering her breath. "I stop to tie my shoe and poof.... you're halfway across the park. If I wanted to kill myself exercising, I would have gone swimming with my sister."  
  
"Somehow I don't think the swimming will be the reason for your death."  
  
"Not this again. Michi's not a murderer and she's not out to get you .You just happen to cause enough trouble to catch her attention."  
  
"If it weren't for that midget.."  
  
"Karen..."  
  
The discussion ended there, a familiar cluster of laughter stole Karen's concentration. They were here, all five of them... just when she thought her morning couldn't get any worse. On the other side of the fountain was Rini and the young Inners, huddled in a circle and having their usual chats. Karen wanted to prance over there and cease the giggling. She stayed in her position, hoping not to be seen by them. Grabbing Rebecca's arm, she started off in the opposite direction. A few steps later she heard the calls of the others, it just wasn't her day.  
  
Karen turned and glared at Rini, who was mockfully smiling back. "One of these days I'm gonna..."  
  
Suddenly, something flew by, knocking both Rebecca and Karen onto the ground. Karen managed to get onto her knees before taking note to the terrified looks on the Inners faces. The thing came back around, landing in front of Karen... it was some kind of man-bat. It grasped her neck, pulling her up, and threw her into a nearby park bench. Everyone else was transforming, as she planned to do when her head stopped hurting. She shook her head and reached into her jacket pocket for her wand. The monster was standing over her, readying itself to attack. Then, an attack had hit it, sending it flying into some bushes.  
  
Rini and her posse had been cheering, still in their sailor suits when Karen succeeded in transforming herself. "Stupid Moon twit... stealing all the glory." She stumbled to her feet and sauntered over to the group.  
  
"You're a little late, Sailor Moon already got rid of it." It was either Sailor Venus or Jupiter who made the retort. It didn't matter to Karen, she just wanted to get rid of that stupid smile she had received once again.  
  
"This will teach you..." She paused a few feet away from them, raising a arm in the air. "Uranus World Shaking!"  
  
The attack made a direct hit on Sailor Moon and tossed her back a yard or two. Silence filled the area, four noticeable shocked expressions pointed at Karen. It hadn't occurred to her that she just assaulted her future queen and it didn't seem to bother her at the moment. She let out a small moan and collapsed onto the concrete. The pain was taking over and she lost consciousness, still in confusion about what had just happened.  


-.-  


The constant pounding of her head finally pulled her back into the real world. Karen slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings, she was back in her room. That's when it struck her, she had attacked Rini... maybe that was all a dream. Hopefully that's all it was. That wouldn't explain the pain however. She looked around to see Trista and Rebecca watching over her. They both saw she was conscious, yet made no move to hug her or anything. Her injuries must have been serious, or were... Only her head had ached viciously There was no sight of Michelle so far, she was coming though.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Trista questioned, her deep worry showing so easily.  
  
"My head hurts..." She wasn't sure about her body, it was either okay or numb. She didn't really want to know the answer to that. "... Is Rini okay?"  
  
"Well, since she was Sailor Moon when you hit her, it didn't cause much damage... She was a little shaken up about it though..."  
  
"Man... I'm in big trouble.." She let her gaze stray, coming upon the shadow from before. It was there in the corner just watching her.  
  
"Michelle, you can't just barge in there, she's injured!" The pleading of Amara's voice was heard outside the door. "Can't this wait until tomorrow?"  
  
"Amara, I'm going in there, so let me go."  
  
Karen let out a small whimpering sound and forgot all about the shadow. The door slammed open and Michelle marched in with Amara close behind. She was furious, a very serious face glared at Karen. Trista had gone over to try and confront Michelle and possibly get her to leave. Karen had remembered the shadow and returned her view onto the corner. It was gone again, just like the last time she took her eyes off of it for a moment. Both Michelle and Amara left the room within a minute or two, followed by Rebecca, who Trista had asked to leave. Karen pulled herself into a sitting position and waited for words to be exchanged.  
  
Silence had echoed throughout the room, starting to bother Karen."... You think I can go apologize to Rini later?" She knew Trista was upset and she wanted to make it better if she could.  
  
"You want to apologize...?"  
  
"Well, it is my fault, and it would probably make you feel better." Karen let out an exhausted sigh. "... Does this mean we have a new enemy?" A nod answered her inquiry. "That's just great..."  


-.-  


"Did you see those kids? Those weren't the Sailor Scouts we fought." A voice spoke as the owner of it fixed her bright orange hair.  
  
"That new Sailor Moon was familiar..." Another remarked while working on a machine with the label 'fire buster' on the side.  
  
"She was that Mini Moon twit. I'm more interested in that new Uranus though..." The third was nurturing a plant across the room.  
  
"She's a troublesome one." Two more replied in unison. "Maybe we can get her to join us."  
  
"Not like that'll matter after the Professor finishes his new creations." The first assured and the five broke out into laughter.  


-.-  


Karen tossed and turned in her bed, trying desperately to get some sleep. There was too much bothering her... the monster, Rini, and the punishment Michelle was eager to place upon her. She moved around some more, accidentally knocking Apollo off the bed. She muttered an apology and closed her eyes again. Apollo made a good pet when his mouth wasn't moving. Karen never understood why he lectured her, she never listened to a word of it. From what Amara had told her, it was the same for Serena and Luna. The difference between Karen and Serena was the fact Serena was a space case and Karen just didn't care.  
  
She heard a slight knocking at her door, or she believed she had. Apollo, who had jumped back onto the bed, had perked his ears up, he had heard it too. He glanced over to Karen, his eyes glowing brightly in the darkness. Karen crawled out of her bed and took little, sneaky steps to her door. She turned the doorknob and opened it wide enough for her to see outside of it. Rebecca stood there, focus on the floor and hands fidgeting with her necklace. It was supposedly a prized possession, given to her by her mother or someone in her direct family.  
  
Their eyes locked onto each others' and Rebecca explained herself. "I had a bad dream, can I sleep with you tonight?" Karen nodded and went back to her bed, laying back down. "Thanks."  
  
Rebecca shut the door after coming in and first approached Apollo and pet him. She liked Apollo and he seemed to enjoy how she spoiled him. Karen watched her friend, partly in awe of her beautiful smile. She was still in her trance when mini water goddess finally lay next to her. Quiet giggles pulled Karen back into reality in time to notice she was being laughed at. Karen showed a cheesy smile and the two started to laugh, they weren't going to fall asleep anytime soon.  
  
"Michelle would flip out if she saw you staring at me like that."  
  
"I don't care what Michelle thinks and I know you don't either."  
  
Rebecca smiled and pulled Karen into a kiss. "Maybe we should at least attempt to get some sleep."  


-.-  


Trista had forced Amara to go to the store with her and Michelle had left early in the morning. Rebecca had decided to sleep in, which left Karen to do as she pleased. So, she did the best thing she could come up with, a movie marathon. After a movie and a half, however, she had lost her interest. She began to play random games with Apollo, which only resulted in Karen being utterly humiliated. Luckily no one was aware of the fact except those two. And Apollo wasn't one to brag or make fun of. At the time, Apollo had gone off somewhere, leaving Karen to lay on the couch in boredom.  
  
She wanted to get up and run around a bit, yet she didn't want to leave the house. She didn't feel like going out and being bothered anyway, not after yesterday. Then again, after yesterday, Rini was probably staying inside to be safe. Karen had promised to make peace with her sometime soon. Lastly, there was Rebecca, off in her own dreamworld and hopefully not drooling on Karen's pillow. The girl wasn't a light sleeper, nor a terribly heavy one... just somewhere in the middle. Karen wondered if playing a trick on her would be entertaining enough, or maybe she could just dump a bucket of water on her head.  
  
Karen had been facing the couch as she lay, so she was unaware of the person who suddenly entered the room. She settled on just waking up the lazy bum and turned to get up. Her gaze fell on the individual standing some feet away. She glared and made no movement, just waited for some kind of explanation. Michelle just returned the look and folded her arms over her chest.  
  
"We need to talk."  
  
"I refuse to without Amara or Trista...."  
  
"Listen Karen, I know..."  
  
"What exactly do you know? There's a long list of things that fall into that category and I'm not a mind reader."  
  
Michelle let her arms fall to her sides and took a seat forward. Karen took it as some threatening gesture that unfortunately didn't work on her. "... I don't approve of it."  
  
"Let me tell you something. You aren't my mother, my sister, or any direct family member, so I refuse to listen to your ridicule anymore...!"  
  
"Hey, we're home!" Amara was heard, followed by the closing of the front door.  
  
Michelle flashed Karen a loathsome grimace and left the living room. 


	3. Chapter Two

Silence... it was sometimes good, and terrible at other times. This was one of the more unfortunate times. Amara and Michelle were somewhere downstairs talking to Serena about the strange occurrences happening so randomly. Karen was in a place she never thought she would ever step foot in... Rini's room. It was either this or continue her arguing with Michelle and anything was better than being around Michelle. The only problem with apologizing to Rini was actually getting Rini to spare her the smallest look. She was still traumatized from Karen's blow and wasn't in the mood for speaking to anyone about anything. Karen didn't let that stop her though, she couldn't.  
  
Diana was sleeping on the floor near the bed where Rini was seated. The Moon Princess hadn't made eye contact with Karen since the troublesome girl had come into the room. Minutes had already passed and both girls still uttered no words. Karen mentally groaned, she could have been doing something fun right now. Like hang out with Rebecca and Susan or... she shook her head, it was her fault she was here. She inched over to Rini, trying to think of a way to get the girl to listen to her. Halting a short distance away from Rini, she sat on the floor and searched her pockets for something.  
  
"Rini, I'm sorry that I went crazy and used my rightful powers against you. I would have let you beat me aside the head until you felt satisfied, but I'm not quite recovered from crashing into that park bench. So, here's a much better idea." She pulled out her wand and set it in front of her. "I want you to take it and keep it as long as you think you need to. And while I can't transform, I'll help everyone in other ways on the battle field."  
  
"Are you serious?" Rini stared at Karen as if she was crazy, but the girl just nodded. "What if I never give it back?"  
  
"I don't think you're that cruel, but if you don't... well, that's just too bad for me. You forgive me, right? That's the whole point of the offer."  
  
Rini nodded, picking up the wand and hiding under one of the pillows. "You've got a deal."  
  
-.-  
  
Karen paced back and forth in her room, the cordless phone laying next to Apollo on her bed. Apollo was giving her one of his long lectures, the same ones Karen never listened to. She sometimes wondered why he bothered when he knew she was always off in her own little world. She guessed it was in case she'd pay attention for once. She glared at the phone, she hated being called or having to call someone. She sighed and decided to go get a snack, heading over to her door. Just as she was about to leave, the phone began to ring. Karen quickly walked back over to the bed and picked it up. There was no need to wonder who was calling, she knew as soon as she had come home to an empty house.  
  
"Hey Trista, where are you?"  
  
"Michelle's old house. We're having the movie night, remember?"  
  
"No one tells me anything... I talked to Rini, it went well this time." Karen ceased her pacing and petted Apollo. "I only need to get hit aside the head with a broom once to learn my lesson."  
  
"You know, Michelle's still going to punish you."  
  
"Wishful thinking..." A thud was heard in the background. "What was that?"  
  
"... Amara and Serena."  
  
Karen smiled and let out a small laugh. "Maybe they need a good whack from the broom."  
  
Another sound was heard, this time it was the shattering of glass. "Um.. I better go. Good night."  
  
"Night." Karen turned off the phone and headed downstairs.  
  
In the living room, Rini, Hotaru, and Susan were huddled on the couch, talking and giggling. Rebecca was laying on the love seat, looking bored as she fidgeted with her necklace. Karen set the phone down and cleared her throat. Rebecca sat up and the others looked up from their conversation.  
  
"Hey, where are...?"  
  
"They didn't want to come, probably a little terrified of you." Rebecca answered with a grin.  
  
"Oh well, their loss. What are we watching first?" The other three had jumped out of their seat and over to the television and began to argue about what movie to watch.  
  
Karen took her seat next to Rebecca, who began to cling onto her arm. Karen hugged her and the two just stared into each others' eyes. The room had fallen silent and Karen snapped out of her trance. Susan, Hotaru, and Rini had goofy looks on their faces as they observed the couple. Karen found herself speechless and could only manage to blush slightly.  
  
"They're like Amara and Michelle..." Hotaru stated.  
  
"Except much more cute..!" Rini added and Susan nodded.  
  
"It's a good thing the others didn't come. Right Karen?" Rebecca gave the embarrassed girl a slight nudge in the side. When Karen didn't answer, Rebecca chuckled and pulled her into a kiss.  
  
Karen's face had become bright red and she hid behind a pillow. "Becca, not in front of the kids!" They all grew silent again and then burst into laughter at the same time.  
  
-.-  
  
Serena jumped over the couch, crashing onto the floor after failing to catch her target. Amara poked her head out of the door leading to the kitchen. Luna and Artemis were on the couch, exasperating sighs escaping their mouths. Mina and Lita were picking up the pieces of broken glass as they yell at Serena.  
  
"The floor really felt that one, Meatball-Head." Amara managed to get the insult out before getting pulled back into the kitchen.  
  
"Movie night just isn't complete without Amara and Serena's bickering and wrecking of everything." Raye noted sarcastically and Amy gestured an agreement.  
  
"Though it would be better if they skipped the wrecking part." Trista spoke as she started to eat some popcorn.  
  
"We're talking about Amara and Serena, two of the most destructive people we know." Mina debated.  
  
"They are the two most destructive people we know.." Lita retorted.  
  
Serena had finally got to her feet and entered the kitchen. She came back out with a confused expression. "Where did they go?"  
  
"Amara and Michelle? They're upstairs." Trista continued to devour the popcorn as she replied.  
  
-.-  
  
Amara stood on the balcony observing the city lights in all directions. Michelle came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Amara turned and gazed at her, simply shaking her head and looking back at the scenery. Michelle frowned slightly and gave Amara a small hug.  
  
"Amara, there's nothing to worry about. They'll be fine."  
  
"I know... I just have a bad feeling."  
  
"If anything does happen I'm sure they can handle it."  
  
"You're right."  
  
"Coming?"  
  
"In a minute, tell the others to start the movie without me." She waited for Michelle to leave before returning to her thinking. "... Why am I so worried..?"  
  
A shadow moved slowly through the room and onto the balcony. Amara felt another presence around and turned to see if it was Michelle. Her eyes fell upon the individual a few feet away and she let out a gasp.  
  
-.-  
  
Serena and the other former Inners lay on the floor, passed out from the previous night. Michelle was silently sleeping on the couch and Trista was on the recliner chair with an empty popcorn bowl on her head. Luna and Artemis stepped around all the girls and exchanged worried glances when they couldn't find Amara. Luna put a hand on Serena's leg and let her claws sink into the girl's skin. Serena awoke suddenly, jumping onto her feet and screaming something about evil zombies. The action pulled some of the others out of their dreams and they began to complain under their breath.  
  
Serena glared at the cats and folded her arms over her chest. "What was that for, Luna?!"  
  
"Hey, where's Amara?" Mina scanned the room once more before bringing her attention onto Serena.  
  
"She never came back down." Artemis informed.  
  
Michelle suddenly got up and leapt from the couch, jolting up the stairs. The others remained in their places for a few more moments, then ran after her. Trista yawned and opened her eyes, taking the bowl off of her head. She stumbled to her feet and followed them upstairs. When the others reached Michelle, she was standing still with her eyes staring straight ahead. Amara was on the balcony, bruised and beaten as she lie letting out forceful breaths. Lita and Mina quickly picked her up and carried her over to the bed.   
  
"Amara, who did this to you?" Serena questioned, getting an incoherent response from the tall blonde. "What?"  
  
Amara let out a cough and opened her mouth again to speak. "I said... it was me..."  
  
"You did this to yourself..? How? Why?" Michelle pleaded as she held Amara's hand with both of hers.  
  
Amara just closed her eyes and slipped out of consciousness.  
  
-.-  
  
Alex was on her knees in front of the sacred fire as she chanted. Behind her three shadows entered the room and approached her. She broke out of her trance and swiftly sprung to her feet and faced the visitors. Out from the darkness came Sam, Tori, and Jessica, causing Alex to let out a relieved sigh. Tori and Jessica let out nervous chuckles and Sam made an apologetic gesture towards Alex.  
  
"Where's Rini?" Alex inquired.  
  
"She said she was on her way." Sam explained.  
  
The four left the room and headed to Alex's, Tori suddenly halting half-way there. "Do you hear that?"  
  
"What is it Tori?" Jessica was the first to notice to the preoccupied girl.  
  
"There are voices outside..."  
  
Alex froze, she felt an evil presence close by. She dashed through the hallway and out the temple before the others could utter another word. The other three found her soon enough, her gaze on five girls around their age a short distance away. They were busy arguing about something, they didn't take heed to the fact Alex and the three were close by. Some moments passed by before one spotted the girls and silenced the others.  
  
"Who are you?!" Alex demanded and the five began to laugh obnoxiously.  
  
"If you must know, I..." Mimet began to introduce herself.  
  
"Quiet Mimet. We're here to get rid of them, not make acquaintances." Eudial interrupted, pointing her fire buster at the other group.  
  
"Everyone, split up and find a safe place to transform!" Alex commanded and ran off in a random direction. From out of nowhere came a red and blue energy ball, crashing into the girl and tossing her onto the ground.  
  
Jessica quickly drew her wand and opened her mouth to yell her transformation words. A different attack knocked the wand from her hand and she let out a small gasp. Sam and Tori rushed off in opposite directions, but were also stopped. The Witches began to laugh again, slowly stepping over to the fallen Scouts.  
  
"Stop right there!" The voices had grabbed the attention of the Witches and they turned around to see Karen and Sailor Moon at the top of the temple stairs.  
  
"Oh, no! It's Sailor Moon and.... some kid." Telulu flashed Karen a mocking smile. "This isn't a playground, you know."  
  
"Well, this kid is going to pummel you to the ground." Karen charged at her, not caring whether the action was wise or not.  
  
"Fool..."  
  
Something came up from the ground and seized Karen's legs, making it impossible to move any further. "What the heck...?" Karen raised her hand as if ready to use one of her powers, but remembered she wasn't Sailor Uranus. "Me and my brilliant ideas."  
  
Electric currents shot out of the vines and Karen let out a small, painful cry. The vines loosened their grip on her legs and disappeared as Karen collapsed onto the ground. Telulu stepped to the side and a rather large plant squirmed it's way over to Karen. Its roots were reaching out to her limp body, but were drawn away when a rose sunk into one.  
  
"Rainbow Moon Heartache!" The attack destroyed the plant and the Telulu growled under her breath.  
  
"You've managed to win this time, but next time you won't be so lucky." Eudial announced and the Witches Five departed.  
  
Sailor Moon first headed over to the other Inners, making sure they were okay. Alex noticed Tuxedo Mask helping Karen to her feet and wondered why she was with Rini. Especially when Rebecca and Susan were no where to be seen. That thought was easy trashed when she realized Karen hadn't transformed. She shook her head, trying to push away the headache that was caused from all the thinking. That and the fall to the ground she took earlier.  
  
"Shingo, what are you doing here?" Karen glared at him for a moment. "Don't tell me you're psychic too.."  
  
"I actually came to tell you the bad news... about Amara..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"She was attacked last night... We're not exactly sure who did it..."  
  
"And I don't know of this until the next afternoon?!" Karen tried to break out into a run, however, slowed down as the pain returned. "... We aren't walking there, are we?"  
  
-.-  
  
Karen slammed opened the front door and was greeting by the gazes of Serena, her gang, and the cats. "Where is she?" They immediately pointed to the stairs and Karen was gone in seconds.  
  
Rini and her group entered, a disturbing silence covering the room.  
  
"Is there something wrong, you all look upset." Amy was the first to speak.  
  
"... We were attacked by the Witches..." Rini revealed, staring at the floor.  
  
"But, we got rid of them all!" Mina exclaimed, almost springing out of her seat.  
  
"They're back and they're young, like us."  
  
"Yeah, and they were winning until Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask got rid of that plant." Jessica clarified.  
  
"And the plant almost ate Kat!" Sam accidentally let it slip out and covered her mouth.  
  
"We need to figure out why they've returned and what they're after this time." Luna ordered and they all nodded.  
  
-.-  
  
Karen rushed into the room, catching sight of the unconscious Amara on the bed. "No..." She hurried over and fell onto her knees. She extended her arm to touch Amara, yet ceased her action. "This can't be happening..."  
  
A hand was on her shoulder and Karen knew it was Michelle. "She's resting, she'll be alright."  
  
"Who did this to her...?"  
  
"We're not sure yet..."  
  
Karen slapped Michelle's hand away and got to her feet. "I swear..." She glared at the older girl, who just stared back with a confused face. "If I find out you did this to her or if you ever harm her..."  
  
"She didn't do it, Katherine." Trista was standing in the doorway between the room and the balcony.  
  
Karen just slumped into a chair next to the bed and watched Amara. 


	4. Chapter Three

Karen made sure no one around and returned to her seat. She observed Amara and let out a depressed sigh. A long time had passed and the Wind Goddess hadn't made the slightest movement. Michelle had gone downstairs sometime ago, announcing that they'd be staying here until Amara got better. Trista was somewhere, which didn't bother Karen much since the Time Guardian was probably off doing something important. Karen just took the opportunity as a chance to talk to Amara one-on-one, even though her sister was off in her own dreamworld.  
  
Karen exhaled quietly and started to talk to Amara. "I know you might not be able to hear this, but I've waited so long to tell you. So just hear me out. A while ago, I had a dream...."  
  
-.-   
  
..... I was in the middle of the field, there was nothing else around. I was all alone. In every direction... nothing, not even a barnyard or a stray cow. Anyway, I was getting kind of bored just standing around, so I started to walk. I figured it would be better to be going somewhere than just standing in the middle of nowhere. I was walking and after a while I was getting tired of it, so much for that good idea. Still the endless field remain in my view, which was beginning to bother me. Then, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, some kind of light...  
  
I quickly turned around to come face to face with... Sammy. He has wearing a white cloak, his hair sticking out of the hood and his face barely visible. That's not all, there was someone with him, another boy. He was the same height as Sammy and he had snow white hair and turquoise eyes, I think. He wore all white and had what looked like a flute in his hands. I also thought I saw wings on his back for a split second. I guessed since he was with Shingo, I didn't have to feel threatened by him. That and he didn't look like the violent type... there was some kind of warm feeling about his appearance.  
  
Finally getting down to the point, I spoke up. "Shingo?" Well, it wasn't so much down to a point, but I had to make sure it was really him.  
  
"I've come to warn you..." That was all he said as he pulled his hood down.  
  
"Warn me? About what?"  
  
"Thanatos.."  
  
"Come again..?" I never really understood that kid, but this wasn't usual Sammy talk.  
  
"The brother of Sleep and the son of Night, his name means Death. From on high, Helios never casts his light on Death. Unlike his brother, Thanatos has a deep hatred of mortals and the world of light can cease to exist by a simple touch of his hand."  
  
I could only stare, dumbfounded as the explanation just seemed like a foreign tongue to me. He couldn't have been serious, Thanatos sounded like something from mythology. Sammy was serious though, his expression was all I needed to see to understand that. Still, it made no sense why he was telling me this stuff. What was the chance of some god of Death coming after me?  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" Sammy just stepped back and looked away. "I know you wouldn't come into my dreams unless you had a really good reason."  
  
"You must be careful..." The other boy had answered. "Thanatos is coming..."  
  
"Coming?" Somehow it didn't surprise me that much, I did jinx it. "Why is he coming?"  
  
"Be careful..." Sammy then pulled his hood back on and disappeared. At the same time, it seemed to get a little darker.  
  
So, he was gone and probably not coming back, leaving me with the other kid. I did wonder why he hadn't left with Shingo, but didn't really care. I just wanted to know more about this Death dude before he came up to me one day and tried to kill me or something. The boy had gotten closer, our distance only a few inches. Maybe he wanted to tell me something important without Sammy overhearing. I shook off the ridiculous idea and decided to question him.  
  
"Could you tell me why this Thanatos guy is coming..?"  
  
He just grasped my hands with his and looked me straight in the eye. "You must be cautious and prepared, or he'll find a way to sneak up on you."  
  
"... Okay, I get the idea, I'm just having trouble understanding it all."  
  
"It will all soon become clear." That was the last thing he said and he leaned forward, lay a soft kiss upon my cheek.  
  
He began to walk away after that, leaving me shocked and still confused. If I wasn't blushing when he had grabbed my hands, I was at that point. My face felt as if it was on fire and my heart was violently beating. Seconds later, he went away too, this time.. darkness covered the area. The light had left with them and once again I was alone. Then I woke up....  
  
-.-   
  
Karen got up from her seat and headed onto the balcony. The sun was already setting in the distance and it was getting a little cold out. Karen moved closer to the railing, halting when she heard something crunch under her foot. She ducked down to examine the object, finding a little, cracked black star. She picked it up and hurried out of the room and down the stairs. Rebecca and Susan were in the living room when Karen came down. Karen went over to the coffee table and knocked off the random garbage left from the movie night.  
  
"What's wrong, Karen?" Susan exchanged a concern gaze with Rebecca and then brought her attention onto Karen.  
  
"I found something.." Karen placed the star on the table. "I think it's some kind of tracking device."  
  
Apollo trotted in from the kitchen and jumped on the table. "I think you're right. Where did you find this?"  
  
"The balcony, maybe the person who attacked Amara dropped it." Karen searched the room. "Where's Hotaru?"  
  
"Staying with Rini." Rebecca responded.  
  
"That makes sense."  
  
A beeping echoed in the area and Susan pulled her communicator watch out of her pocket. Karen and Rebecca just watched as she flipped it open. "Rini...? You found them..? Tokyo Tower? Alright, we'll be right there." She put her watch away and stood up. "The Witches are at the Tokyo Tower, the Inners are already there."  
  
"Let's go then." Karen headed for the door, but was stopped by Rebecca.  
  
"Wouldn't it be safer if you stayed here?"  
  
"I just can't sit around knowing they're out there hurting innocent people..! They're the reason Amara's in a partial coma..!"  
  
"Just promise to get out of there if it gets too dangerous."  
  
Karen nodded and the three got their jackets and left the house.  
  
-.-  
  
"Well, Meatball Brain, it was a great idea to come check out this place. But how are you planning on getting inside?" Raye inquired as she inspected the home Professor Tomoe once lived.   
  
"I hadn't thought about that..." Serena revealed, a little embarrassed.  
  
"We could just go in through the front door." Amy suggested.  
  
"Or we can sneak in unnoticed." Mina implied.  
  
"There would be point to sneaking in if no one's there.."  
  
"There's only one way to be sure." A voice was heard close by.  
  
The five turned around to find Trista and Darien standing there.  
  
"Darien, what are you doing here?" Serena ran over and hugged him.  
  
"Rini thought it would be a good idea to search this place."  
  
"That brat stole my idea!"  
  
"Come on Serena, let's just go look at the place and get out of here." Lita spoke up.  
  
Serena nodded and the seven sauntered over to the front door. Trista reached out to ring the door bell, but the door opened before she could complete her action. She backed away as a familiar face came out of the shadows.  
  
"Amara, what are you doing here? You should be resting." Serena took a step forward, only to get shoved away by what seemed to be Amara.  
  
"Hey." Darien grasped Amara's arm, the girl glaring back at him.  
  
Amara quickly yanked her arm away and kicked Darien, sending him flying onto the concrete. Serena almost fainted at the sight and the others just stared shocked at the event. Amara just turned around and walked back inside, the door closing behind her.  
  
-.-  
  
Karen looked up at the Tokyo Tower, disappointed at the fact the Witches were somewhere on the top. Everyone else was transforming at the time, leaving her to just wait for them. Sailor Neptune joined her at last with Sailor Pluto and Saturn not too far behind. Karen saw that everyone was ready and they all ran into the Tower. Karen paused suddenly, a few of the others almost running into her.  
  
"Shouldn't we split up or something?" She questioned.  
  
"It would be a smart idea." Sailor Moon agreed.  
  
"We'll take the stairs and you guys take the elevator." Karen ordered as she and the other Outers dashed away.  
  
"Maybe we should have taken the stairs..." Sailor Mercury watched them disappear.  
  
"Too late now." Sailor Mars stepped into the elevator and the others followed.  
  
"So Sailor Moon, what's up with Kat?" Sailor Jupiter asked.  
  
"Yeah, she hasn't transformed since the other day." Sailor Venus added.  
  
"She gave me her wand so she can't transform and attack me again. She told me I can give it back to her whenever." Sailor Moon explained quietly.  
  
"Wait.. are we talking about the same person? Kat would never do that.." Jupiter retorted in a shocked tone.  
  
"I guess she was really sorry..."  
  
Meanwhile, the Outers were climbing the stairs until Sailor Saturn had to rest. Karen leaned against a wall, drifting off into her own world. Neptune noticed, but said nothing to the troubled girl. She knew she was still upset about what happened to Amara. Saturn announced she was okay and they continued running to the top.  
  
-.-  
  
Serena burst into the house, stomping angrily up the staircase. Michelle came out of the room to see where all the noise was coming from, relieved when she saw it was only Serena. Raye and Lita had chased after her, holding her back before she reached Michelle.  
  
"Let me go...! I don't care if she injured or not, she had no right to do that to Darien!"  
  
"Serena, what are you talking about?" Michelle tired to get the younger girl to quiet down.  
  
"I'll tell you what! Amara came out of nowhere and beat up Darien for no reason!"  
  
"But... Amara was here the whole time, I was watching her."  
  
"What?" Serena managed to get out of the two's grips and peeked in the room. "Uh.. Michelle.. Where's Amara?"  
  
"I told you, she's..." Michelle went back into the room. "Gone...?"  
  
"I think I deserve an explanation!"  
  
"She was there when I left the room a minute ago..."  
  
"This doesn't make sense, even if we did run into the real Amara earlier, she couldn't have taken down Darien with one blow." Lita commented.  
  
"Maybe that wasn't Amara we ran into at all..." Raye whispered.  
  
"What do you mean that wasn't Amara? We all saw her..!"  
  
"Serena, there is a possibility it wasn't her. Besides, I don't think Amara would do such a thing."  
  
"So what do we do now Raye?"  
  
"We look for her..." Michelle replied. "And hopefully the Amara we run into is the right one."  
  
-.-  
  
The Sailor Scouts met at the top of the tower, quickly spotting the Witches a distance away.  
  
"Hurry up, before those pesky Scouts come!" Eudial yelled as two other Witches ran by.  
  
"Who died and made you leader?" Mimet argued.  
  
"If I remember correctly, I was always the leader."  
  
"Sometimes I wonder how they manage to stay alive if they can't even stop fighting each other." Karen watched them, not sure if she should be smiling or feeling ashamed.  
  
Eudial and Mimet ceased their argument and glared at the Scouts. "We knew you'd come!"  
  
"Nice to know, so how do you plan on escaping this time?"  
  
"We don't plan to retreat this time." Eudial started.  
  
"This time we're prepared to take you down." And Mimet finished.  
  
The two laughed as an enormous stomping sound was heard below. Sailor Moon ran to the edge, finding something rather large down there. "There's something down there...!"  
  
"We have to stop it before it starts to destroy the city!" Mars stated.  
  
"Don't worry, we can take care of the Witches." Pluto assured.  
  
The Inners nodded and went back into the elevator. Eudial and Mimet pulled out their weapons and the other three Witches soon appeared, ready to fight. Pluto twirled her staff and got into a fighting position. Saturn and Neptune did the same as Karen stood in the back with her hands in her pockets. Kaorinite emerged from thin air and floated above the Witches.  
  
"We don't have time for this." She held her hand out in front of her and an orb of energy shot out of her palm.  
  
The blast hit Neptune, throwing her off the tower. Karen, obviously not thinking at the time, jumped after her. Pluto and Saturn hurried to the edge and then raced down the stairs. Karen managed to grab one of Rebecca's hands while they fell. She realized the mistake she had done and just closed her eyes, hoping for some kind of miracle. Karen felt arms grabbing her by the waist and they began to slowly move towards the ground. She opened her eyes and tried to get a good view of her rescuer. It was the boy from her dream and he had wings this time.  
  
"Fairy boy..?!" He just smiled at her and they proceeded to float down.  
  
When they were back on the ground, Karen just stared at the boy as Neptune glanced back and forth at the two. "Karen... do you know him?"  
  
"Kinda..." Karen shook her head and turned to Neptune. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
Karen's watch started to beep and she opened it, slightly glaring when she saw it was Michelle.  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"I don't have time for this... Listen I just miraculously jumped off the Tokyo Tower and lived, so save me the lectures."  
  
"You did what..?!"  
  
"Nice to know you're happy that I'm safe. See ya!" Karen shut her watch and faced the boy, holding out her hand. "Thanks for the help, I'm Karen."  
  
"My name's Peruru." He leaned over and kissed her hand.  
  
Karen squeaked and pulled her hand away. "Not exactly what I was expecting..." She gazed at her feet so he wouldn't see her blushing.  
  
The three felt a rumbling under their feet and they searched the area. Something ran their way and over them, the Inners chasing after it. Karen finally got a glimpse at the thing, letting out a gasp. "Is that... a giant bunny?"  
  
Neptune just lifted her hands to release an attack. "Neptune Deep Submerge!" It had knocked the bunny onto its side and it tried desperately to get back up. "Sailor Moon, your turn!"  
  
Sailor Moon caught up and nodded. "Rainbow Moon Heartache!"  
  
The bunny never saw it coming. 


	5. Chapter Four

"You did what...?" Michelle glared at Karen, who was looking at the floor. "Well?"  
  
"I jumped off the Tokyo Tower... I don't see what the big deal is, I was trying to save Rebecca..." Karen brought her head up to return the grimace. "Unless you having a problem with your sister living..."  
  
"Amara would be worried to death if she knew..."  
  
"Amara's off in Candy Land, playing with the candy cane people on the gum drop trees."  
  
"If only that were true..."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Amara's gone... I took my eyes off of her for one minute and she disappeared..."  
  
"And you didn't go look for her?! Is punishing me that important to you?!"  
  
"I didn't think it would be right for both of us to just leave."  
  
"Well, next time you beep me, get straight to the point and maybe I'll actually stop to have a conversation with you."  
  
"Why do you hate me..?"  
  
"Amara and the others might not see through your act, but I do."  
  
Michelle became silent after that remark and then suddenly slapped Karen. Karen just shook her head and tackled Michelle onto the floor. She managed to land some punches on the older girl before getting kicked away. Michelle quickly got up and pinned Karen against a wall. The tomboy got out of her grasp and elbowed Michelle in the ribs. More punches and some kicks were exchanged before Michelle tossed Karen into the coffee table, which happened to be glass. Karen climbed to her feet and took some steps back. She noticed her left arm bleeding and gazed at Michelle shocked.  
  
"You are trying to kill me!"  
  
Michelle didn't respond, she just took slow steps over to Karen. When she was a mere inch away, a voice spoke out.  
  
"What happened?" Amara stood at the front door, seeming perfectly well.  
  
"Mic..." Karen tried to tell her, but Michelle interrupted her.  
  
"She was attacked. I came in here after I heard a noise, but whoever it was had left."  
  
Amara seemed to buy it, she just approached the two. "Maybe we should do something about her arm."  
  
Karen saw Michelle ready to volunteer and she clung onto Amara. "Could you help me Mara? Please?"  
  
Amara glanced at Michelle and then nodded. "Okay... Come on." She walked out of the room, leaving Karen and Michelle.  
  
Michelle glared at Karen again and the young girl just hurried after Amara.  
  
-.-  
  
Karen entered Alex's room, noticing all the others were already there. She rubbed her bandaged arm and took a seat next to Rebecca and Susan. They all seemed as if they wanted to ask her about her latest injury, yet refrained from doing so. Karen saw Peruru across the room and they locked gazes for a few seconds. Rebecca was the only to see it and she slightly frowned. Peruru cleared his throat and got the room's full attention.  
  
"I guess you're all wondering why I'm here..."  
  
"He's really coming, isn't he?" Karen questioned and half the room looked at her.  
  
"Who?" Four unidentified voices spoke up.  
  
"Thanatos." Karen and Peruru answered in unison.  
  
"Sleep's brother, Night's son, oh.. and his name means death." Karen explained.  
  
"I'm still not entirely sure why he's coming here..." Peruru stated. "But I am sure that he's after Lady Kat."  
  
"Lady..." Susan had a slight smile on her face.  
  
"... Kat?" Rebecca turned to Karen, who was hiding her face in her hands.  
  
"Could you please not call me that...?" Karen muffled the question.  
  
"At least he didn't call you Lady Katherine." Susan retorted. "... Or Kitty." Karen just shook her head and ran out of the room. Rebecca chased after her as the Inners just stared at Susan. "She'll get over it."  
  
"Karen, wait up!" Rebecca called out to her friend, but the girl didn't stop until she was outside.  
  
Karen sat on the ground, knees against her chest as she buried her face in them. Rebecca stepped over to her and got down onto her knees. She put a hand on Karen's shoulder and waited for some kind of response. Karen lifted her head up and glanced at Rebecca. She hugged her tightly, still not saying anything.  
  
"You going to be okay?" Rebecca whispered.  
  
"I don't know... when he's around, I get this feeling. It's like the one I get when I'm around you... I barely even know him..."  
  
"It'll be alright... How about we go back inside, unless you want to go home..."  
  
"There's something I need to tell you."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Karen let go of Rebecca and moved away so they could make eye contact. "I know this is going to sound crazy.... Michelle is trying to kill me, this time I'm positive about it."  
  
"Karen..."  
  
"She attacked me and gave me this." She motioned to her arm. "But when Amara came, she just lied about it... You believe me, right?"  
  
"I do, it's just that... no one else might."  
  
"I don't care what everyone else thinks, as long as you trust me."  
  
"I'd hate to interrupt your moment.. or actually, no.. I wouldn't." Telulu came out of some bushes.  
  
"Rebecca, go get the others!" Karen demanded and Rebecca raced off.  
  
"We just keep on running into each other, don't we kid?" Telulu mocked and Karen hopped onto her feet.  
  
"Listen, I was already beat once today, so I'm in a very bad mood." Karen noticed the vines slithering out of the concrete and jumped back. "I hope you didn't expect me to fall for that one again."  
  
"No, I didn't."  
  
"What?" An energy blast came out of nowhere and hit Karen from the back. "Okay, that's it..!" She got back up and dashed away from Telulu.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Kaori appeared in front of Karen.  
  
"Who said I was going anywhere?" Karen kicked Kaori and dodged another attack from Telulu.  
  
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" The thunderbolt hit Telulu directly, almost causing her to lose her balance and fall.  
  
"I'm out of here!" She turned around and returned to the bushes.  
  
"She wasn't your real opponent anyway." Kaori reappeared on a tree branch.  
  
"Somehow I don't think you are either." Karen mumbled.  
  
"Of course not, look behind you."  
  
Karen glanced over her shoulders, eyed widening at what stood some feet away. "Proof, I have proof!"  
  
Neptune guarded Karen, but froze when she saw who Kaori had been speaking of. "Michelle...?"  
  
"I told you she's trying to kill me!"  
  
"... That can't be my sister..."  
  
"Oh? So where exactly is your real sister then?" Kaori interrogated, knowing Neptune couldn't answer her.  
  
"Right here." Michelle had just arrived, yet hadn't noticed the clone of her.  
  
"Okay, this just makes things even more complicated." Karen looked at Michelle and then the clone. "But how do we know that the one over there is the real Michelle?"  
  
"What are you...?" Michelle caught sight of the clone. "What the hell is that?"  
  
"It's you of course, though I must say you don't look as nice."  
  
"Space Sword Blaster!" Neptune was knocked off her feet by the attack and Karen quickly looked around.  
  
"Someone's using my powers for evil...?! Man, this can only get worse..!"  
  
"Submarine Reflection!" This time Michelle's clone had struck, hitting Karen at full force.  
  
"Man, if looks could kill." Karen muttered as she lay on the concrete.  
  
"That's enough for now." Kaori commanded and the clone sprinted away. "Ta-ta." She vanished with that said.  
  
Peruru held out his hand to help Karen up." Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine, just a little upset at the fact everyone's picking on me just because I can't transform." Karen folded her arms over her chest.  
  
Michelle observed Karen and Peruru closely, totally forgetting about her clone. Karen saw Michelle and just glared at her, getting up to check on Neptune.  
  
-.-  
  
"It's good to be home again..." Karen sighed happily and collapsed onto her bed. "Hey, Amara... where did you go earlier..?"  
  
"I came here actually, I had to find something...." Amara replied and took a seat on the bed.  
  
"What?" Karen rolled over and sat up.  
  
"I had a dream not too long ago.. and when I woke up, I drew this.." Amara pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Karen. "The thing is... I'm a poor artist and that's a nicely draw picture..."  
  
Karen took the drawing from Amara and examined it. It was a cloaked figure holding a scythe, and atop the scythe was a butterfly. "Thanatos..." Karen whispered to herself and Amara nodded.  
  
"After you had told me about your dream, the picture was the only thing I could think of. So, when I finally regained consciousness, I had to find it."  
  
"... You heard me...?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
Karen thought of Peruru and hung her head in anguish. Amara took note to Karen's woe and gave her a big hug. Karen smiled, feeling a little better and she handed Amara the picture. They both heard Michelle calling for Amara from downstairs and Karen mentally twitched. Amara shook her head and left the move, waving slightly to Karen.  
  
-.-  
  
Karen and Rebecca were sitting on a park bench, waiting for Rini to get there. They heard footsteps soon enough, seeing Rini approaching them followed by Peruru. Karen ignored him and moved closer to Rebecca so Rini could sit with them.  
  
"... What are you doing here?" Karen inquired Peruru in the nicest tone possible.  
  
"Serena didn't want me to come alone..." Rini answered for Peruru.  
  
"So, what do we know about our enemy so far?" Rebecca tried to change the subject.  
  
"Well, the old Scouts fought them and they keep tabs on the clones with those tracking devices." Karen clarified.  
  
"But where does Tomoe fit into this..?"  
  
"He makes the clones of course, whoever hired him obviously couldn't. And I know for a fact the Witches or Kaori can't."  
  
"So are real enemy is..?  
  
"We aren't exactly sure. We've been told it's Thanatos, some god of death, but that doesn't make much sense. Maybe it's some kind of cover so we don't find out who our real enemy is."  
  
"Somehow, this doesn't seem like the ordinary 'take over the world or destroy it' plot."  
  
"Maybe that's not their intended purpose..." Peruru spoke to himself.  
  
"If that's so.. then what are they after..?" Rini glanced at Karen, who just shook her head.  
  
"There's only one way to find that out. We need to meet our true enemy..."  
  
-.-  
  
The Witches Five stood in front of a throne where a cloaked figure was seated. "You failed once again...?"  
  
"Those Sailor brats always gang up on us! Maybe if they weren't together..." Telulu admitted.  
  
"Silence!" The shadow released a beam of light at Telulu, tossing her onto the floor.  
  
"If I may ask, isn't there some other way to go about destroying the Sailor Scouts?" Cyprine asked.  
  
"Well... since our recent attempts have been failing, we could try a different approach."  
  
"Does our master have an idea in mind?"  
  
"Actually, yes. If you can pull off a simple kidnapping I'll spare your lives for a little while longer."  
  
"Kidnapping? Must we resort to such a low action?"  
  
"Unless you'd rather return to the Hell I saved you from..."  
  
The Witches grew silent, then nodded.  
  
-.-  
  
"Karen!" Rebecca's voice echoed through the house.  
  
Karen stumbled out of her room and down the stairs. "I'm coming..!" She entered the living room, spotting Rini and Rebecca on the couch. "Man, I thought it was an emergency.... or is it?"  
  
"No emergency here."  
  
"Alright, so what's up?"  
  
Rini pulled Karen's wand from her pocket and handed it to the older girl.  
  
"Oh... well thanks.." Karen took her wand and looked at it. "Maybe now I won't get beat up so much..." The wand began to glow and Karen was pushed back onto the love seat as she dropped it. "... That's new.."  
  
The three exchanged glances and then stared at the wand again. 


	6. Chapter Five

Karen slowly opened her eyes, letting out a small yawn. She rubbed her eyes, taken aback by her surroundings. She was in Rebecca's room, but... how did she get in here? Karen walked over to the bed, staring in awe at the individual peacefully sleeping there. She reached out to touch Rebecca's face, stopping when she heard a noise coming from behind her. She quickly turned around and got into a fighting position as she waited for the cause of the sound to appear. The closet door slid open suddenly and Peruru poked his head out.  
  
Coming out of the closet, Peruru finally spoke. "I apologize if I alarmed you."  
  
"What were you doing in Rebecca's closet?" Karen quickly glanced at Rebecca to see if she was still asleep. ".. What are you doing here?"  
  
"There's something I must tell you..."  
  
"And this happened to be the perfect time...? You can't be in here...!" Karen noticed Rebecca move slightly and she dropped to her knees by the bed. "Please don't wake up...!" She tried to grab Rebecca's hand, but hers went through it. She gasped crawling backwards and accidentally bumping into Peruru's legs. "What's going on?"  
  
"This may be only a dream, but she can't see or hear us."  
  
"This is a dream..?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why do you keep on appearing in my dreams?"  
  
"Well.. I'm a dream elf, it's a power of mine." Peruru walked around Karen and pulled her onto her feet. "I thought it'd be best to carry out a conversation this way."  
  
"So, you can get into people's dreams.. Wish I knew how to do it."  
  
"I wish I could teach you..."  
  
Karen looked at Peruru and then to the floor. "... What did you want to tell me?"  
  
Peruru opened his mouth to speak, but just shook his head. He pulled Karen into a tight embrace as he softly kissed her. Karen felt her heart skip a beat and she blushed fiercely, part of her wanting it to be over. Peruru broke away, muttering an apology and turning away. Karen felt herself moving in to return his action, yet managed to keep herself from doing so. She was speechless, what could she say to that? He was pouring out his feelings to her and she... wanted to be with Rebecca.  
  
"Peruru... I don't know what to say. There's so much happening lately and then there's Rebecca... But what do I know, I'm still just a kid. We all are... I guess the best thing to do is wait 'till after we beat our enemy to start thinking about... these things. I'm sorry, I really am..."  
  
"I understand."  
  
Karen inched over to Peruru and hugged him. "You'll still help me fight, right?"   
  
Peruru nodded and Karen smiled, closing her eyes.  
  
-.-  
  
"Karen!"  
  
The voice echoed in her mind and she awoke with a start.  
  
Rebecca sat on the bed, hands on Karen's shoulders and a worried expression on her face. Karen saw that she was back in her room, which proved her meeting with Peruru was all in a dream. Rebecca just clung onto Karen's waist, obviously relieved to see the girl was conscious.  
  
"Is something wrong Rebecca?"  
  
The mini Sea Goddess just gazed up at Karen, tears forming in her marine blue eyes. "I thought they had taken you away from me... It felt so real and I was so scared." She recklessly cried into Karen's shirt, quiet sobs sounding in the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"It's alright... it was just a dream." In all honesty, Karen didn't want to know who 'they' were. If it was enough to wake Rebecca and get her to cry a river, it must have been bad. She just rubbed her partner's back as an attempt to pacify her. It seemed to be working, since Rebecca wasn't crying as much. Karen mentally sighed, relieved that no one had been roused. "Don't worry Becca, I won't leave you. I'm here and that's how I plan to stay."  
  
Her assuring words ceased Rebecca's weeping and Rebecca sniffled, drying her eyes. "Sorry about your shirt."  
  
"That's okay, I care more about you than the shirt."  
  
"Thanks Karen, I feel better now."  
  
"That's a relief. Wanna stay in here for the night...?"  
  
Rebecca shook her head and stood up. "I'll be okay."  
  
An energy blast struck Rebecca, knocking her into a nearby wall.  
  
"Rebecca...!" Karen tried to jump to her friend's aid, but a hand had grabbed her from behind. "Let me go..!"  
  
"You're such a bother." Kaori, with all of her might, tossed Karen into an adjacent wall face first. "Stay out of the way." She floated over to Rebecca, picking up the unconscious girl. Letting out an annoying cackle, she vanished before Karen could tackle her.  
  
"No! Rebecca..." Karen was on her knees, violently punching her carpet.  
  
The door slammed open and Amara and Trista ran in. Karen ceased pummeling the ground, trying desperately to fight her tears back.  
  
"Are you alright, Kat?" Amara called out to her sister.  
  
"They took her... I couldn't stop them."  
  
"It's alright, we'll get her back, I promise."  
  
-.-  
  
Karen lay on the couch, lifelessly staring at the muted television. Trista watched her, trying to think of a way to snap the girl out of her trance. It was clear the only simple method was finding out where Rebecca had been taken. Unfortunately, it wasn't a simple task, they didn't even know where to start looking. Amara had made the promise out of mixed emotions of anger and depression. The Witches had kidnapped Michelle, which Amara had found out a little too late.  
  
"Rebecca was the only one who I could tell anything to. She's always there for me and believes in me when no one else does. I don't know what I'd do without her... The world just doesn't seem worth saving if I can't even protect her." Karen spoke to Trista, eyes still on the TV. "You know, most of the time... she's hurt because of me... and now this.."  
  
"That's it...! I know what the Witches are after...!" Trista ran over to the stairs. "Amara!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Karen glanced over to Trista when she came back into the room.  
  
"Isn't it obvious...?"  
  
"No... all I know is that they seem to enjoy making my life miserable..... You don't think..."  
  
"Something wrong?" Amara quickly came down the stairs and entered the room.  
  
"They're after me." Karen answered. "But it didn't seem like they were trying very hard to get rid of me."  
  
"Maybe they aren't aware you're their real target." Trista replied. "Whoever they're working for probably didn't want it to seem obvious."  
  
"You just said..."  
  
"It wasn't clear to me until half-way through that little speech of yours and then it was so hard not to see."  
  
"Great, Rebecca got kidnapped because of me..."  
  
"What about Michelle?" Amara questioned.  
  
"... I don't know, them taking Michelle is a little fishy."  
  
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Trista remarked.  
  
"Where do we start looking though?" Karen debated.  
  
"We don't have to worry about that, they'll come to us." Amara declared as she and Trista turned to Karen.   
  
-.-  
  
Karen and Rini walked through the park in silence, paying attention to nothing but straight ahead of them. Some rustling of bushes was heard and the two just continued their stroll, not sparing the slightest glance. Eudial and Mimet followed the two after jumping out of some trees. Cyprine and Telulu were posted some feet in front of them. Karen was the first to halt, Rini soon repeating her action.  
  
"Hm... you're short one Witch, guess it doesn't matter though. She didn't do much of the fighting." Karen folded her arms over her chest. "No Kaori either, guess I'll just take my anger out on you four."  
  
"You're crazy if you think the two of you can beat us." Telulu flashed a mocking smile, something she seem to enjoy doing.  
  
"Who said there's only two of us?" Rini spat out and the Inners, old and new appeared in back of Telulu and Cyprine. The remaining Outers, past and present, were blocking Eudial and Mimet's only means of escape. The kids were transformed and the others were ready to fight.  
  
"Where's Rebecca?" Karen demanded.  
  
"You don't scare us!" Eudial shouted.  
  
"Fine.. have it your way."  
  
From out of the blue came two BonBon Babies, one knocking over Cyprine and the other taking down Mimet. Peruru fell down from somewhere in the sky and landed next to Karen and Rini with flute in hand.  
  
"Last chance."  
  
"Fine... we'll take you to her..." Eudial muttered.  
  
"We're going too." Amara announced as she and Trista stepped forward.  
  
"So am I." Peruru stated, gaining a displeased expression from Karen. "I don't trust them."  
  
"That's what Amara and Trista are for..."  
  
-.-  
  
Karen and Peruru walked down a hallway with Amara and Trista following them closely. "I have a bad feeling about this." Karen stopped to search the area, not finding the four Witches anywhere. "I thought they would ditch us... probably planning a trap."  
  
"I see a light ahead." Peruru informed and the four hurried towards it.   
  
They came to a room with two doorways ahead, both identical and leading into darkness. Karen observed the two, hoping some psychic link or something would kick in. When nothing happened, she sighed then closed her eyes, listening for some kind of sound. Footsteps were coming from the opposing direction she faced. It must have been the Witches or some monster sent out to attack them.   
  
"Let's split up. There's no use in coming here just to get captured." Amara ordered and left with Trista through the right doorway.  
  
"Split up? What kind of plan is..?" Before she could finish, Peruru grabbed Karen's arm and led her into the left opening. "You could have told me to come... or give me a warning that you were going to try and pull my arm off."  
  
Peruru slowed to a stop, his grip loosening and his hand falling to his side. Karen quickly knew where they were, it was Hotaru's old house. She had never been in this place, but by the description she was given, this place fit it perfectly. She went to the end of the hall and peeked her head around the corner. Another hall with some rooms and stairs leading down at the end of it. No Witches, no Kaori, no Tomoe.. just her and the fairy. Karen leaned against the wall and slid down into a sitting position. She got out her wand and gazed at it, not sure whether she should transform or not.  
  
"How are we going to find Rebecca?" Peruru inquired.  
  
"Well... we could get caught or find a way out of here and to wherever she is..." A door opened and closed around the corner, causing Karen to get up and take a second glimpse. She noticed the doorknob rattling a bit and sneaked over to the door. She swung the door open and waited for the person or thing that had entered it to come out. Finally, someone stepped out and Karen let her guard down. "Sorry Trista. I thought you were someone else.. or something. Where's Amara?"  
  
There was no response, just an indescribable facial cast on the Time Guardian.  
  
"Trista...?"  
  
One of Trista's hands clutched Karen's neck, pinning the girl to the wall. Karen tried to speak, her elder's grip was too tight however. Peruru was mere feet away, getting held back by Eudial and Cyprine. Karen closed her eyes, she knew struggling was useless. She cursed herself for being so weak and let herself fall unconscious.  
  
-.-  
  
"Karen, where are we going?" Rebecca called out to her friend, who was busy keeping her focus on where she was heading.  
  
"Stop asking me, I told you it was a surprise. Besides, we're almost there." Karen paused, glancing back at Rebecca, "Close your eyes."  
  
"Okay..." She did as told and felt Karen's hand take one of hers. They hiked for some more minutes until Karen let go of Rebecca's hand and said she could open her eyes.  
  
They were on a hill, looking over some part of the city. Karen was sitting on the grass, motioning for Rebecca to come join her. Rebecca did so and they viewed the scenery for a few moments.  
  
"Karen, where are we?"  
  
"My secret place. And the city isn't the only beautiful view. Look..." She pointed at the setting sun over the city.  
  
"It's gorgeous..." Rebecca whispered, in awe of the sight.  
  
"Becca...?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
Karen moved closer to Rebecca and kissed her. Rebecca blushed, seeing Karen was doing the same, though the tomboy was trying to hide it. Rebecca leaned against Karen and they continued to watch the sun go down.  
  
-.-  
  
Karen awoke, finding herself face-down on a cold floor. She got onto her knees and looked around the room... nothing other than darkness Lights suddenly flickered on and Karen shielded her eyes from the brightness. She was all alone, Peruru was gone and Amara and Trista had got separated from them a while before that. Her eyes fell upon a body laying a distance away, it was Rebecca. Karen scrambled over to her partner, about to shake her until she heard a masculine voice.  
  
"Don't wake her..."  
  
Karen glanced up, seeing a cloaked figure on a throne. "Who are you and what do you want with me?!"  
  
"Kat!" Karen turned, Amara, Trista, and Peruru across the large room. The Witches were surrounding them, each holding some sort of weapon.  
  
"... Let them go!"  
  
"It's not that simple..."  
  
"Who are you really? I know you aren't some death dealer." Karen glared at the shadow.  
  
"If you really wish to know.."  
  
Out of one of the sleeves came some kind of device, crashing onto the floor. Karen guessed it was a voice changer by the its appearance. The person stood, one hand rising to remove the hood. Karen and Trista gasped as soon as the hood fell.  
  
"No... it can't be..." Amara spoke, deep hurt in her expression as she was on the verge of tears.  
  
Michelle stepped over to Karen and Rebecca, a smile on her face. "I didn't actually think you of all people would be surprised, Karen." 


	7. Chapter Six

Karen tried to think of something to say, she didn't actually think she was right about this. She glanced back at Amara, knowing this wasn't a joke. She shook her head and glared at Michelle again, her mind doing a flashback of a few days ago. 'I swear... If I find out you did this to her or if you ever harm her...' Karen wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do to Michelle, she was very angry at the time. And stressed from all the attacks and the beatings she had taken.  
  
Karen quickly pulled out her wand, trying not to hold it out in the open. "Uranus...!"  
  
"I wouldn't do that..." Michelle spoke, not even making the slightest move to stop Karen.  
  
Karen grew silent, wondering if transforming here would be a good idea. The Witches were somewhere behind and Michelle was in front of her. Not to mention she and the other four were in harm's reach. "Don't tell me you're using the coward's method of fighting Michelle... How about a one on one, but you've gotta promise to fight fair."  
  
"You aren't enough to entertain me..." Michelle observed the room, her gaze falling on Peruru. "Him.."  
  
"What about him?"  
  
"He's going to help you fight of course."  
  
"What?!" Karen almost jumped at Michelle, halting her action when Michelle put a hand up.  
  
"I thought this was going to be a fair fight. That means no cheap shots Karen."  
  
"What do you call letting the fairy fight?!"  
  
"You obviously need some help and I don't see anyone else capable of helping." Michelle gave a slight wave to the Witches and they let Peruru run pass them to join Karen.  
  
Karen got to her feet and held on tightly to her wand as she looked at Peruru. "I don't want you to fight.."  
  
"You might die if you do this alone." Peruru argued.  
  
"It's better than watching you get hurt..!" Karen revealed, glancing at the floor now. "Don't you see what she's doing...? She's going to use you against me..."  
  
"I won't let that happen!"  
  
"Doesn't matter, she'll find a way. I know she will."  
  
"Well, I won't stand here and watch you die..!"  
  
"I can't stop you, can I Peruru?"  
  
"No.  
  
"Just be careful.."  
  
"I will."  
  
"Are we ready?" Michelle questioned, seemingly bored from watching Karen and Peruru's scene.  
  
Karen nodded. "Ready."  
  
Michelle held out Rebecca's wand suddenly. "Neptune Planet Power!"  
  
"Uranus Planet Power!"  
  
Trista watched silently, occasionally glancing at Amara, who was now lost in her own little world. Karen examined her Sailor outfit, remembering how much she hated the thing. Michelle seemed rather happy to be Sailor Neptune though. Karen waited for someone to start the fight, not wanting to be that person.  
  
"Some advice, don't hold back." Sailor Neptune warned.  
  
"Don't worry, I won't."  
  
"Deep Submerge!"  
  
The attack headed straight for Karen and she easily dodged it. "Is that the best you can do?" She readied her own attack and showed a confident smile. "World Shaking!"  
  
Michelle jumped to the side and gave Karen a mocking grimace. "I hope you didn't believe that would actually work."  
  
Peruru stepped forward, his flute appeared in hand. He played a few notes, summoning some BonBon Babies. Neptune held a hand out ahead of her, a beam of black light escaping her palm and hitting Peruru. The same moment he crashed onto the floor, the BonBon Babies disappeared. Karen let out a small gasp, running over to him.  
  
"So predictable." Neptune whispered, the magic mirror now in her right hand.  
  
Karen halted suddenly, facing Neptune once again. "... Go ahead, attack me."  
  
"What a foolish command..."  
  
"Do it!"  
  
"Fine... Submarine Reflection!" When her assault had subsided, Karen was gone.  
  
"Space Sword Blaster!" Neptune was knocked onto the floor face first and Karen landed near the throne. "Just answer me this. How could you do this to Amara? I may hate to admit it but... she loves you."  
  
"This has nothing to do with Amara." Neptune replied, getting back onto her feet.  
  
"Of course it does! You sent some soulless clone after her!" Karen hand formed a fist. "And what about Rebecca...? You kidnapped your own sister!"  
  
"She's not my sister..."  
  
"What?" Karen just stared, not sure what else to say.  
  
"I never had a sister and neither did Amara. The Keeper of Time knows that as well as I do, don't you Trista?" She looked over to Trista, not getting a response. "Oh, that's right. I messed with everyone's memories."  
  
Karen fell onto her knees, unable to fight anymore. "... Then what are we?"  
  
"I thought you were smarter than this Karen."  
  
Karen's head shot up and she gazed at Neptune in deep shock. "You were going to murder your own daughter?!"  
  
"Of course not, I'm not that mad. I just needed some way to lure you here."  
  
"... Karen..." Rebecca spoke softly, beginning to awaken.  
  
Karen moved over to Rebecca and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, I'm here... I won't let them hurt you."  
  
Rebecca noticed Karen was transformed. "What's going on...?"  
  
"Nothing I can't handle."  
  
"Karen..."  
  
"Everything's alright, don't worry about it so much."  
  
"... Where are we?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
"I can answer that." Neptune spoke up.  
  
"Don't look at her Rebecca, don't listen to her... Just ignore her."  
  
"What are you talking about Karen?" Rebecca pulled away from Karen's embrace and turned to Neptune. "Michi...? Wait...you stole my wand..?!"  
  
"Rebecca, we need to leave... now." Karen got to her feet, reaching out to grab Rebecca's hand.  
  
"Karen, please tell me what's going on..."  
  
Karen sighed and shook her head. "Michelle is..."  
  
"Go on, tell her." Neptune urged.  
  
"... Listen, I'm here now, so there's no reason for you to be keeping the others. Why don't you just let them go?" Karen glared at Neptune.  
  
"No."  
  
"Fine... how about we make a deal? One last battle.. you and your flunkies against the Sailor Scouts, past and present. If we win, you have to leave us alone. And if you win... you can do whatever you want to me, but you can't hurt the others.."  
  
"No!" Rebecca got up and grabbed Karen by the shoulders. "What are you doing?!"  
  
"Interesting... I accept." Michelle approached the two, holding out Rebecca's wand.  
  
Karen stayed transformed as Rebecca took her wand back. "How do I know you're not lying?"  
  
"Tomorrow..." That's all she said.  
  
"Can't wait... So, how do we get out of here?"  
  
"Just close your eyes."  
  
Karen didn't like the idea, but followed the order. When she reopened her eyes, she was in her room. "How'd she do that?" She pushed the thought away and dashed out of her room. Heading down the hallway, she almost collided into Rebecca's door, which opened while she was passing by.  
  
"Karen.. did that really happen?" Rebecca stepped out of her room.  
  
"I know it wasn't a dream."  
  
Rebecca gave Karen one of her serious looks. "I still want to know what's going on..."  
  
"I'm not even sure... Trista has to know something.." She headed for the stairs and Rebecca followed.  
  
-.-  
  
"Our enemy is Michelle? Seriously?" Alex questioned, gaining a nod from Karen and Rebecca. "I never would have guessed..."  
  
"None of us did... Trista went and checked out the time gates after we got back." Karen quietly explained. "She says this is our present... Michelle somehow screwed up time without really messing it up... Not sure how that's possible though. I just can't believe she did all this to get rid of me.."  
  
"What about our fathers..?"  
  
".. Michelle messed with their memories too, they don't remember us..."  
  
"You know, you never told us the reason she is trying to 'take care of you', Karen." Alex remarked. "If you know what I mean..."  
  
"That's just it, I don't know. She never mentioned it and I can't think of any reason why she'd want to. At least, not any reasonable ones."  
  
"That's just great..."  
  
"We're really going to fight her, aren't we?" Rini inquired.  
  
"We really don't have any other options... I have a suggestion to make fighting Michelle a little easier..." The room's attention shifted onto Karen and she calmly spoke. "... The Sailor Planet Attack.."  
  
"We can't use that! It's too strong!" Tori got out of her seat.  
  
"I don't care..! If she's as powerful as I think she is, then it won't kill her. We'll beat her though.."  
  
"What about us?"  
  
"I've already thought this out. Besides, I never said you guys were going to use it..."  
  
-.-  
  
"Amara...?" Karen poked her head in the room and silently entered.  
  
Amara was laying on her bed, staring at the wall. She didn't respond or even look at Karen for a split second.  
  
"I know you're really hurt after finding out about Michelle, but... we really need your help.." Karen sat on the edge on the bed.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you..."  
  
Karen glanced over to Amara, wondering if she was hearing things again. ".. It wasn't something I wanted to be right about..."  
  
"I just can't figure out why she's doing this..."  
  
"Wait... I'm your daughter.."  
  
Amara finally got up and gave Karen a confused look. "Uh.. yeah... We kinda figured that out a while ago."  
  
"No.. I'm your daughter." Karen repeated. "Don't you get it?"  
  
"You know... I don't think that's the reason Michelle..."  
  
"Why else would she be trying to get rid of me? I'm the reason you two didn't stay together... She might have changed the present, but she probably hasn't altered that fact."  
  
"So, we're going to fight her..."  
  
"Yup.."  
  
"Kat.. could you do me a favor?" 


	8. Chapter Seven

"This is all so ridiculous...! My mother is like, eight years older than me, Michelle's trying to kill me, and I'm probably never going to meet my father! This isn't right... I just wanted to live a remotely normal life and maybe spend it with Rebecca. Man, what am I going to say to people, my mother looks very young for her age?" Karen complained as she lay on the couch.

Peruru was standing near the couch, eyes focused on Karen. He said nothing in reply to her comment, partly hurt from what he had heard. Karen hadn't noticed, she was too busy being angry and upset. At first, fighting Michelle sounded crazy, now she wanted more than anything to fight her. Michelle didn't deserve forgiveness after what she had to everyone. And especially for what she did to Rebecca and Amara.

"Part of me can't wait to fight Michelle... but if I do... It's just not fair to Amara."

"That doesn't change the fact we have to fight her." Peruru debated.

"I know and I have no problem with it. I just can't stand to see Amara hurt..."

"She'll be okay, I know you know that."

Karen sat up and glanced up at Peruru, blushing slightly. "I guess you're right... By the way, thanks for helping me out earlier."

Peruru joined her on the couch and held her hands in his. "I would never forgive myself if I let something happen to you. You mean too much to me..."

Karen stared at him, completely speechless and turning bright red. She felt like turning away and giggling like a little girl, but she didn't. Silence grew as they sat contentedly gazing into each others eyes. She felt her heart pound violently as he leaned closer. His lips pressed against hers and they shared a sweet kiss. Karen closed her eyes, forgetting all of her worries for that single moment. Rebecca stepped into the room, instantly witnessing the scene. She stood shocked and watched them in awe. Peruru seemed to sense her presence and pulled away from Karen, his attention coming onto Rebecca.

Karen opened her eyes, somewhat disappointed it didn't last long. "What's...?" Her eyes spotted Rebecca in the doorway. "Oh, no... Rebecca..."

Rebecca didn't speak, she just shook her head and hurried out of the room.

"Rebecca, wait...!" Karen quickly got off of the couch and chased after her. "I know I don't deserve to be forgiven, but I'm sorry...I don't know what I was doing... I'm just so confused...!"

"What about us? All of those things you said to me, were they all just lies?" Rebecca had halted, yet didn't turn to face Karen. "Karen, I don't want excuses, just tell me the truth."

"I am telling the truth... and everything I said was true. I want to be with you Rebecca, some part of me just gives into him and I'm just like any other vulnerable girl.."

"Maybe we aren't meant to be then..."

"Don't say that..!"

"I understand that you're going through some crisis and you need some time to sort out your feelings." She turned suddenly and approached Karen. "You need to understand that things might change between us while you're doing so... And that change might not be good, we could lose each other or end up together again. But I don't want to risk it, Karen, I don't want to lose you.... I love you."

The statement landed like a heavy blow, unpredictable and unavoidable as it had thrown Karen into surprise. "... Don't say that... we're just kids. You don't really mean.... you don't even understands what it means.... Don't say it."

"I know what I feel. There's no other feeling like it and I know you felt it too. The slightly mention of you causes my heart to skip a beat. I can't hide my feelings for you, I don't try to..."

"I don't know what to say..... could we just beat Michelle first...?"

"Sooner or later we're going to have to talk about this, just keep that in mind."

* * *

"This is it... the final battle..." Karen peered down the dark hallway, Michelle was waiting at the end of it. "We've been through so much to reach this point and this is where it all comes down to... This decides everything to me... my future, my life..."

"There's no turning back... we've come too far." Amara's voice called out from behind.

"Are you sure you want to do this...?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

* * *

"Kat, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it...?"

"I want to fight her, I have to."

"What?" Karen tired to think of a protest to Amara's idea. "You.... you can't...! Michelle has some freakish powers, you wouldn't stand a chance..!"

"That's why I need the wand back. I know I can beat her."

"But..!"

"She has an advantage over you..."

"What about you..? You've never had to fight against her before."

"I guess that's something I'll have to deal with."

"I'm just not so sure about this..."

"Trust me, Kat, I'm not going to let you down."

Karen nodded and slowly pulled her wand out of her pocket.

* * *

"She's not going to hold back anything, you know. You'll need to do the same if you want to win."

"You don't have to worry about me, I don't plan to go easy on her." Amara was now beside Karen, transformed and grasping the Space Sword in her hand. "How'd you get them to agree with your plan?"

"They actually wanted to give it a try. Serena thinks it'll be enough to get rid of the Witches and maybe the clones..." Karen sighed and showed an uneasy expression.

"Something wrong?"

"No, just thinking..."

"She'll forgive you, I know she will."

Karen looked up at Amara. "You know about that?"

"Everyone does... except Serena."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"... This is it, ready?"

"No, but let's go."

* * *

"You're going to tell her, aren't you?" Apollo followed Karen into the living room.

"Tell who what?" Karen questioned, taking random sips from her soda can.

"I know how you feel about Rebecca..."

Karen choked on her drink, letting out several coughs to clear her throat. "... What..?"

"Don't bother trying to hide it, it's obvious."

"You're a cat, what do you know?"

Apollo smiled evilly and trotted pass his owner. "Hey Rebecca."

Karen spun around instantly, relieved when she saw no one there. "... Hey!"

* * *

Karen and Sailor Uranus raced down the hallway, their feet stomping on the floor in unison as they got closer to the room at the end. A shadow stepped out of the darkness, blocking the duo's path.

"Well, I was hoping for a better turn out. If there's only two of you, this will be surprisingly easy." Byruit covered her mouth with a hand as she cackled.

"If it isn't the missing Witch, I was beginning to think they threw you out." Karen mocked and folded her arms over her chest. "Oh, and we aren't alone..."

"Neptune Deep Submerge!" The blast tossed Byruit into a nearby wall and Neptune and Susan approached Karen from behind.

"The others aren't too far behind." Susan announced, a little wiped out from running.

"Just remember, we have to distract her long enough for them to power up and get the attack ready." Karen warned, getting a few nods in return. "No turning back now, we have to do this."

Karen began to walk, the other three following closely. She lead them out of the hallway and into a pitch black room. Silence echoed in the darkness, the lack of noise starting to bother Karen. It was quiet, too quiet... Suddenly, a small flash of light was seen out of the corner of her eye. Karen ignored it for the moment and continued on. After another few steps, a shadow emerged from the lightlessness and attacked Karen. She felt something cut her face and she let out a pained cry, covering her right eye with her left hand. The lights instantly came on, revealing the enormity of the chamber.

"Karen!" Neptune rushed over to her friend's aid after noticing her injured condition.

"You should have saw that coming, Karen." Michelle stood feet away, holding a reaper scythe in hand and wearing the cloak again with the hood down.

"Is that supposed to be some kind of sick pun?" Karen glared with her remaining eye.

"Well... now that you mention it..." The reply came with a mocking grin.

"You know Michi... the dark and scary look just isn't you." Neptune remarked, also giving Michelle a hateful look.

Michelle disregarded the comment and brought her attention onto Sailor Uranus. The two had a stare-down for a few moments and then nodded slightly. Karen watched as they began to fight; they were evenly matched. She finally took note to the remaining Witches and a few clones some distance away. They were waiting and Karen hoped they wouldn't get a chance to take any action. Neptune gave her a tug on her shirt sleeve and the wounded tomboy glanced over her shoulder. Rini had come out of the hallway and gave them a thumbs-up.

Karen sighed and observed Michelle and Uranus again. The plan called for Michelle being floored long enough for the blast to hit her. That way, she had zero chances of miraculously dodging it. Karen's free hand formed a fist as she watched the battle. Unexpectedly, an orb of yellow light escaped her palm and flew at Michelle, knocking her onto the floor. Uncountable gasps were uttered and Karen became the center everyone's attention.

Karen just turned back to Rini and yelled, "Now!"

Serena and her gang, as Sailor Scouts, entered the room and did some poses. "Sailor... Planet... Attack!"

Uranus jumped out of the way in time to dodge the attack as Michelle and her flunkies were hit. Huge pieces of rubble and ceiling fell down and an enormous cloud of dust covered the area.

"Did it work?" One of the Inners questioned.

"No time to check..." Karen answered, seeing and feeling the place beginning to fall apart. "I hope you five have enough energy to run..."

* * *

"There's nothing left... the Witches and the clones must have been destroyed..." Amy stated.

"What about...?" Serena started an inquiry.

"We aren't sure..."

Rebecca exited the living room and headed upstairs. She strolled down the hallway and went into Amara's room. The tall blonde sit on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style as she examined a photo album. Rebecca inched over to the bed and joined Amara, who momentarily glanced up at her. A picture of Amara carrying Rini on her book caught the mini sea goddess' eye.

"What's that?" She pointed at the image.

"Birthday party... I forgot to get her a present..." The reply caused a giggle to escape Rebecca's mouth.

That wasn't the photo Amara was concentrating so hard on however. She and Michelle were hugging and smiling at each other instead of the camera. It must have been secretly taken by Serena or Mina. Then Amara must of found out about it and took away from them... Rebecca frowned, they were so happy together... there was nothing else they could have wanted more.

"They couldn't find her." The statement was a hoarse whisper.

"I'm not sure if I want them to, maybe it's better this way."

"Maybe... is Karen going to be okay?"

Amara flashed the younger girl a weak smile. "Well..."


	9. Chapter Eight

Karen held Rebecca tightly as the shorter girl silently wept in her shoulder. Delicate arms were wrapped around the young tomboy's waist and although the grip was beginning to suffocate her, she let it be. Rebecca needed her now; to cry in front of, use as a teddy bear, to receive love from... Karen glared down at the gravestone, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Everyone should have been overjoyed after the battle, they should have been the celebrating or something. They weren't celebrating however, they were all mourning. Mourning their enemy, the one that destroyed everyone's memories and broke Amara's heart... and caused Karen to have to wear an eye patch.

"Becca... I heard once that in a story, the ending is the only thing that matters." Karen whispered in Rebecca's ear. "In the end, we beat Michelle. Let's just leave at that and move on."

"You're right..." Rebecca sniffled and dried her eyes. "Thanks Karen."

Karen smiled when her partner glanced up at her. The gesture hadn't been forced, it just seemed to appear on her face. Was it to make Rebecca feel better so she wouldn't start crying again? Or maybe it was because her crying had ceased. The young woman had beautiful eyes, eyes which could not be seen behind all the tears. Karen couldn't stand to not see those gorgeous eyes. That's why Karen smiled. The gesture was soon returned by the other girl and Karen let her arms fall to her sides.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"You're taking this well..." Trista stated as she strolled beside Amara.

"What..?" It didn't get through to the blonde for a few seconds. "Oh... well, I don't think I should really let it get to me. She was loony like every other enemy, so why should we treat her any differently?"

"Did you really want to fight her?"

"No... at first I couldn't even stand to watch Kat fight her. But then I just sat down and thought about it. What Michelle did was completely selfish, she deserved what she got. Besides, I don't think she really kept the same motive she had from the beginning."

"She wanted to be with you forever, right?"

"At first it did... sooner or later she must have lost control over her actions. She did send that clone after me."

"Well, all I can say is that I would have never saw that coming. Not in a million years."

"That's what made her plan so perfect..."

* * *

The wind was softly blowing pass them, making the conversation between the two. Karen's hand fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt as she gazed at Peruru. She was a little annoyed by the eye patch blocking out part of her vision. She remembered running into a wall earlier in the day because of the stupid thing. And to make matters worse, they weren't sure if she was ever going to be able to take it off. She pushed the thought away and managed to smile at the dream elf.

"I'm guessing there's no way you can stay..." The tone was a type of disappointed sarcasm.

"No, I wish I could though."

"You'll come to visit sometime, right?"

Peruru nodded and pulled Karen into a tight embrace, whispering a short goodbye. He let go and began to walk away from Karen. The tomboy shook her head and called out to him. She approached him quickly as he turned to face her. She leaned towards him and planted a tiny and short kiss on his lips. He blushed uncontrollably and stared at her in awe. She grinned slightly and stepped back.

"Goodbye Peruru."

* * *

"Where is he, by the way?" Trista questioned from the kitchen.

"He left already... I watched him go." Karen lay bored on the couch.

"Not exactly a proper leaving party."

"I think it was better this way..."

Trista poked her head out of the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. "I don't know... you two made a cute couple."

"Hey, I'm with Rebecca... besides, didn't he like Rini?" Karen looked a little angry at Trista's comment.

"People change... and so do their opinions of others."

"So, they weren't meant to be?"

"I'm not allowed to give out such classified information." Trista joked before going back into the kitchen.

"Of course not.."

Karen let out a yawn and stared up at the ceiling. Things were finally going to be peaceful. There was no Michelle to lay down extreme punishments on Karen... or try to kill her. Then again, Trista did mention something about Amara trying to become more strict with Karen. Well, at least Karen didn't have to feel threatened by anyone anymore. That was always a plus. As for Amara, she would take some time to fully heal from the events. And Karen would try her best to help in anyway she could.

"Did they ever find Michelle's body?" Karen wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but she had to ask.

"Well, they couldn't find her the first time and Amara kind of called off the search after that.."

"I can understand why.. I guess it's best to leave it at that..."

* * *

A shadow watched as Amara laid a single rose against the gravestone. The tall blonde spoke clearly into the air, as if she was excepting some type of response. The shadow observed Amara for a few more moments and then teleported away from the cemetery. The mysterious person appeared over the ruins of what was the Bureau of Bad Behavior's headquarters. And also where their new leader's body could be found under the wreckage. That is, if she hadn't got out before the place collapsed. Kaori glared down at the ruins, not sure if she wanted the former Sailor Scout to be alive. However... Michelle did bring her back to life, so Kaori owed her everything...

* * *

She raced down the dark hallway as loud gasps for breath escaped her lips. Aside from that, her bare feet crashing onto the cold floor made the only sound. She didn't know why she ran, whether she was chasing someone or being chased. But she ran, and did it like there was no tomorrow. Like Hell itself was right on her heels. No matter how fast or how long she had been going, the darkness just seemed endless. Suddenly a light, faint and small, appeared some distance away.

So she continued on and soon reached the light. Everything became a bright white, blurring her vision and causing her to close her eyes. The light dimmed away and she reopened her eyes. She found herself in her room... their room. She took note to the empty bed then found herself gazing into a tall mirror some feet away. She looked slightly different, probably because she was older... but that young girl could still be seen in her. A hand rested on her shoulder and she quickly turned around.

Her blue-green eyes were met with a pair of marine blue ones. They were so calm and gentle... The new arrival gave her a hug and a short kiss. She just smiled and turned back to the mirror. She wanted to see how beautiful they looked together, even though she knew the answer very well. Unfortunately, what she excepted to see was not reflected in the mirror. Eyes widened as she let out a terrified gasp. What she saw was a complete opposite of what it was supposed to be. Behind her was a different girl, the same eyes, yet a lighter color of hair. There was a mocking smirk on the face if this new girl. A hand came around Karen's waist and pulled her closer to the nightmarish image. The person was smiling now, bringing her lips up to Karen's ear.

Four simple words were whispered. "You can't escape me..."


End file.
